Home
by yearbookcrush
Summary: Two hours turned into three. Three turned into four. Four turned into five...and then the telephone rang. When he answered the phone and heard Camilla sobbing on the other end, he was glad that Elise had gone to bed by now. (Modern Gang AU with multiple Kamuis, crossposted on AO3)
1. Introduction

Once upon a time in a sprawling urban metropolis alike to New York City or San Francisco, there were three gangs. The first of these gangs became known as "Nohr". Founded as a group for German-American and Italian-American immigrants. Those who had fled Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy. They protected each other from people who thought that they were in cahoots with the thing they escaped. The second of these gangs became known as "Hoshido". Founded by the survivors of a Japanese internment camp that had been not but a few miles from the city they now inhabited. The third of these gangs had no real name. The general consensus was that they were known as "Valla". A gang founded by a mish-mash of people; some were misfits who wouldn't fit in with either Nohr or Hoshido.

Decades passed. The need for these gangs dwindled. Society became more open and accepting to these once hated people. Parts of the gangs disbanded, some stayed. The surviving members led these once pure gangs which had sheltered people from unnecessary violence down a path of crime and hatred.

Nohr became much more violent after the previous leader passed away, letting his son Garon take over. Hoshido tried to keep a peaceful, protective mindset. Infighting between members soon ended this. Valla...nobody knows what happened to Valla. Its stream of members ebbed and flowed through the years. In the late 1990s, most people were sure the gang was dead. But still, people would crop up claiming to be members of Valla.

They had never been at war with each other, not true war. Valla had stayed out of contact with anyone other than themselves. Hoshido and Nohr had always fought over petty things. The first instance of true hatred between them was the murder of Hoshido's leader, Sumeragi. It was a hit placed by an unknown Nohrian, many suspected it might have been Garon himself. Of course, the tragedy was much more than a "simple" murder. The day Sumeragi died, he was taking his second youngest child to a doctor's appointment. Two of the older children had begged to come along in hopes of going to the grocery store. You might think that they too perished, but that was not the case. Whomever had killed Sumeragi kidnapped them.

A manhunt began, but it soon proved too daunting a task for the Hoshidans to scour the entirety of the city. Within a year, the search given up, and the children assumed dead. What they didn't know was that all three were alive and well. Now raised as if they were Garon's children. All three of them forgot soon about their former life. It was a combination of being young and being fed endless lies about their origins. The oldest of the three, Silk, always had her suspicions about their origins. Silver, the middle child, was convinced that he was a twin brother to one of Garon's younger daughters. This girl fell deathly ill and passed away at the tender age of nine. The youngest, Fuchsia, perceived that she was just a "weird" child. She thought her not fitting in with her supposed siblings would pass as she aged.

As they grew up, all three of them showed their own personalities and formed their own bonds within the Nohrian family. Silk grew close to Xander, the oldest of Garon's children. Silver became quite attached to Camilla after the death of his supposed twin. Fuchsia never formed bonds with her "siblings". She tended to gravitate towards befriending the children born into Nohr. The most notable of these friends was a girl named Soleil.

But as time progressed, their personalities ended up determining their ranks within the gang.

Silk had grown up as the watchful child. She could spot a Hoshidan from a mile off and be able to alert the others to hide or scatter just in the nick of time. She was a wallflower, always hiding with her face in a book. She gained the role of a spy for Nohr. Standing on street corners or feeding ducks at a park as cover. She eavesdropped on Hoshidan gang members who were stupid enough to talk about plans in public. Most of the time she worked with Azura, a cousin of the family who also had a knack for spying as well. Some people joked about Silk and Azura being in a relationship, but Silk was always quick to shoot down those accusations.

Silver had grown up as the agile child, able to squirm his way out of any situation by force. He gained the role of messenger, relaying information from one end of the gang to another. Silver spent most of his free time running around the city on inline skates, much to his chagrin. He much preferred writing to "mailman" duties. He had always had a talent for writing. He had at least a thousand notebooks filled to the brim with stories he had written by now. Some he had written as early as 4th grade. Some of these stories were of his own creation, but the majority of them were fanfiction of all things. It was an odd hobby that most of the gang, Garon included, looked down on, but it made him happy. (Plus, there was _**no way**_ Saitama and Genos were going to hook up in canon. Silver did the work for the show's real writers.)

Fuchsia...well, Fuchsia was 15. Naive, hot-headed, and crass. She got into semi-weekly fistfights at school. She wore jeans that were already torn up when she bought them. She played video games like _Fallout_ or _Bayonetta_. She listened to music with lyrics that made Camilla concerned for her mental health. They didn't know what she was going to grow up to be, and to be honest, Fuchsia didn't care much for what she grew up to be. Little did the entire family know, Fuchsia was going to be the driving force behind a string of events. Events that would change everything about the Nohr and Hoshido gangs.

It started on a warm spring day in mid May. Silver was called to pick Fuchsia up from school after she got out of a detention brought about by one of her semi-weekly fistfights. This one wasn't "semi-weekly" though. It was the fifth one since Monday that week. The walk home was a long one with an air of disappointment and shame about it. It took Silver until the two of them were about half a mile from home to speak up to his younger sister.

"Five fights in a week. _Five_. That's a record, and _not_ a good one." He groaned, pinching his brow. "I never thought I'd say this, but thank god it's Friday."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're ashamed of me and whatever the fuck." Fuchsia said, wrinkling her nose at her older brother.

"I'm not ashamed, I'm just worried. You're only a freshman, you could get expelled for this." Silver sighed, a tinge of his ever-present anxiety showing.

"If that happened I'd expect it, they already suspended me. Its not like I like that school, all my classmates are dicks." Fuchsia replied, not a single drop of concern about the suspension in her body.

"YOU WERE **WHAT**?!" Silver shouted, turning on his skates to block Fuchsia's path. She rolled her eyes, scoffing.

"I said I'm suspended, are you deaf?" She sneered.

"I-I know what you said, b-but that's serious! That's something t-that's so serious Camilla might get called in in from work! Hell, they might call _Father_ in!" He stuttered, continuing to block the brunette's path.

"That's nice, fuckboy. I get the next two weeks off." She snorted, rolling her eyes once again.

Silver and Fuchsia continued to bicker off and on the rest of the way home. All the way up to the fifth floor of their building, right to the front door of the apartment they shared with Camilla and Elise. They could tell from the combination of kicked-off Mary Janes, _Steven Universe_ backpack on the coat rack, and the sound of the television that Elise was already home.

"HEY DRILLHEAD, WE'RE BACK!" Fuchsia shouted, heading for the kitchen.

"I told you not to call her drillhead..." Silver whispered, closely following Fuchsia.

Fuchsia groaned, opening the refrigerator door to ponder her options of an after school snack. Once Silver finally decided it was futile to pester Fuchsia about the severity of suspension, he turned around to join Elise in the living room.

"Is she being gross again?" Elise asked, continuing to stare at the TV screen.

"Not as much gross as...unconcerned." Silver replied.

"That's still gross, so Fuchsia's being gross." Elise snorted.

Fuchsia strolled into the living room with a bag of white cheddar popcorn in tow and grabbed the remote. Elise shot out of her seat and struggled with the taller girl to prevent her from changing the channel. Both of them shouted incoherently as they fought, struggling for dominance. Silver put his face in his hands, giving a heavy sigh at his sisters' antics.

"I'm going to my room. You two can fight to the death over the remote." He groaned, shuffling down the hall.

"BUT BIG BRO, YOU GOTTA TELL FUCHSIA TO STOP BEING GROSS!" Elise squeaked, elbowing Fuchsia in the gut.

"NO, YOU HAVE TO PRY THIS BRAT OFF OF ME!" Fuchsia growled. Silver shot a look of "are you kidding me" to the girls as he opened the bedroom door.

Silver stayed locked in the bedroom for about three hours. He tried to write to take his mind off of what hell was to be unleashed once Camilla came home. He sighed and closed his notebook, slowly sliding out of his chair until he was lying sideways on the floor. Of course, he heard the front door of the apartment open within 30 seconds. Silver shot up from his position like a startled rabbit and made his way back into the living room. He tried to make sure Camilla didn't receive the news from Fuchsia mentioning it in passing, as if it were no more significant than what she had for lunch. When Silver reached the entryway, he opened his mouth to speak, but the words caught in his throat. Camilla cocked her head sideways, a look of concern on her face.

"What's wrong? Does Dad think we have to move again? Is he trying to actually do something about him thinking you should live with Leo and Xander?" Camilla asked, ruffling Silver's black hair.

"Fuchsia...fight...suspended...two weeks." Silver panted, choking up out of anxiety. Camilla's hand froze, pulling away from his head.

"She got into another fight?" Camilla said, her voice mixed with both anger and concern. "Fuchsia? Is this true?"

Fuchsia groaned from the living room, muting the television. "YEAH, I GOT SUSPENDED. SILVER THINKS IT'S A BIG DEAL!"

Camilla paced into the living room. She turned the television off, and glared at the younger girl while crossing her arms.

"...I take it you think that's a big deal too?" Fuchsia squeaked.

"Why did you get into a fight?" Camilla asked, maintaining eye contact. Fuchsia looked away, but Camilla just walked closer.

"I...uh...some kid insulted me." Fuchsia muttered, looking down.

"What did they say?" Camilla asked, clearly being more aggressive with her questioning. Fuchsia wrinkled her nose and got up to go into the kitchen, Camilla and Silver following.

"Why do you care so damn much?! I got into a fight, and that's it!" Fuchsia growled, opening the refrigerator in an attempt to avoid the argument.

"Because I want to know how to help you prevent these things! You got into four other fights this week, what if it was bullying and you just...snapped?!" Camilla insisted.

"Alright, if you're so desperate to know...this one asshole has been saying that I'm not actually dad's kid. I know he's not Hoshido, but he knows who dad is, and who in this town doesn't know he's a mob boss?!" Fuchsia shouted as she slammed a can of soda down on the kitchen counter. Camilla's face changed from anger and disappointment to fear. Both Silver and Fuchsia noticed this, and both incredibly baffled. Why fear?

"T-They're wrong. I remember well the day you were born!" Camilla stuttered.

"You sound like you don't." Fuchsia coldly replied.

"If you want, you can ask Dad yourself! I can call him tomorrow to see if he's free anytime so that you two can talk!" Camilla pleaded as she tried to look Fuchsia in the eyes, but the younger girl turned away. At this point Silver felt like a third wheel to the argument. He turned to exit the kitchen so that he could cower in the living room with Elise. He was barely through the door when Fuchsia shoved him to the ground so that she could make her way to the front door.

"No, I'm going to go ask Dad right now. He works late, so he'll be in the office. I know he will." She said, holding up the can of soda she had taken from the kitchen. "...But I'm taking the root beer with me."

Fuchsia slid her shoes on and stormed out the front door with a pleading Camilla hot on her heels. Silver got up to check on Elise, finding her cowering behind the couch. He knelt down to try and help her calm down, but the truth was that Silver was just as scared as Elise.

"Are they gone?" Elise whispered, uncovering her hands from her ears.

"Yeah, I think they're going to be g-gone for a while...oh god, I hope Father isn't mad with us for this..." Silver sniffled.

"I told you Fuchsia's gross..." She said as she rubbed her bloodshot eyes.

"She's j-just difficult." He muttered.

"It's okay big bro, you can call her gross, she isn't around." Elise said.

"Okay, I do think she's pretty gross." Silver groaned, scratching the back of his head. "Would watching TV help?"

Elise pouted at this request, looking away.

"I'm kind of surprised you forgot there was going to be a Stevenbomb this week…and that it's Friday." Silver said. Elise turned her head back to face her brother, smiling a little. Silver held out a hand to help her out from behind the couch, to which Elise accepted.

"Are you gonna make me go to bed after watching it?" Elise asked.

"Only if you fall asleep halfway through like you did last time!" Silver said, sarcastically rolling his eyes.

The time spent with Elise was happy. But Silver began to worry when two hours passed without either Camilla or Fuchsia returning. Two hours turned into three. Three turned into four. Four turned into five...and then the telephone rang. When he answered the phone and heard Camilla sobbing on the other end, he was glad that Elise had gone to bed by now. He was glad that she wasn't awake to hear what Camilla had to say. The phrase she managed to choke out terrified him.

" _Fuchsia's with Hoshido."_


	2. Dead of Night

" _Fuchsia's with Hoshido."_

All the color drained from Silver's face as he heard those words. How could this have happened? Why did this happen? A sick feeling bubbled in his stomach. He knew he should have tried to stop Fuchsia from leaving.

"H-how did…h-how did this happen?" Silver choked out. He was trying his damnedest to stay calm, fighting the urge to not vomit or drop the receiver at the same time. How could his little sister have ended up with Hoshido?

"I don't know! I followed her five miles away from the apartment and she just...just turned left into an alleyway and disappeared! I've been looking for her, b-but she never turned up!" Camilla sobbed from the other end, her sniffles and frantic footsteps blended with the background noise of the city. "I-I got a phone call from Silk, s-she was out doing the graveyard shift and she...she saw Fuchsia with some Hoshidan."

"What h-happens now?" Silver asked.

"I called Selena to come pick me up a few minutes ago. I can't walk anymore, and she has a car. We'll keep looking for Fuchsia. I'll stay on until she gets here, but after I hang up you're call Xander right away, tell him what's going on." Camilla panted. "After you're off the phone with him call Effie to come pick you and Elise up. Fuchsia might have told whoever she's with where the apartment is."

"Elise went to bed about two hours ago, b-but okay." He muttered. "Stay safe."

"Oh thank god, Selena's here!" Camilla said. "You stay safe too, sweetheart! I'll see you soon, bye."

Silver heard the sound of a car door opening. Camilla chattering with her bodyguard. Then a seatbelt buckling before the he finally heard the dial tone indicating that his sister had hung up. Silver groaned as he dialed the number for Xander's cell phone. It felt like an eternity as the phone rang, all Silver could do was pray it didn't go to voicemail.

 _ **Ring.**_

 _ **Ring.**_

 _ **Ring.**_

"So you just found out, I take it?" A voice sounded from the other end. Silver groaned when he realized it wasn't Xander.

"Of a-all the people I have to talk to tonight, you were the last p-person I wanted to talk to, Leo." Silver stuttered, pinching his brow. It wasn't ideal for him to be on the line with his younger brother. At least Leo wasn't so petty that he would treat the situation like a joke. "But yeah, I j-just found out. How long have you known?"

"Since about 6 PM. We heard it happened a little after 5." Leo replied. Silver could hear Leo flipping through one of the many notepads the younger blond kept. He had a mind for details, he wrote down everything he saw and heard. Sometimes Silver thought the reason why they butted heads so often was because they were too alike.

"6 PM? Camilla didn't get off work until 8, and Fuchsia left at 8:15!" Silver choked out.

"Wait, what the hell are you talking about?! Fuchsia shouldn't be out in a situation like this, she's too confrontational! The woman who's been running Hoshido for the past thirteen years was just murdered out of nowhere. The killer is still a mystery." Leo shouted, the phone signal starting to fill with static.

Silver froze in place, his mouth beginning to dry up. Had a lower-level Nohrian gone rogue? No, that couldn't be it, gang leaders had at least three bodyguards with them at all times. What if Fuchsia had been planning a betrayal, someone found out, and killed Hoshido's leader as a means to prevent her from running away? Before Silver had a chance to find the will to speak again he heard Leo conversing with someone between the static.

" _Fuch..."_

" _...onnection?"_

" _...ikoto..."_

" _Visi..."_

" _...Breaking up! ...ilver, ...hear me?"_

Silver sighed with relief once he realized that Leo passed the phone to Xander.

"A-are you downtown? I can't hear you that well!" Silver said. "C-Camilla called me and said that someone saw Fuchsia with Hoshido."

"WHAT?!" Xander shouted, his voice twisting with the typical static that accompanied being just at the cusp of being out of range. "...OSHIDO?! ARE...URE?!"

"Yes, I-I know! She's with Selena right now, they're looking for Fuchsia. Camilla told me to call Effie to get me and Elise out of the apartment." Silver choked, pacing back and forth in an anxious rut.

"Good!...riving right no...eet up at dad's office...soon as...ssible!" Xander said.

"You're breaking up on me, I'll get back to you once you're in better range." Silver groaned. The phone cut to pure static, then a dial tone. He muttered under his breath as he dialed Effie's number, relieved that he could even remember it in the first place. The relief spread when Effie answered the phone with no delay, and that her voice wasn't clouded by static.

"It's 1 AM, what's going on?" Effie groaned from the other end.

"Something bad's happened. R-really bad. I-I'm not clear on the details, but you need to come pick me and Elise up right now. Its not safe at the apartment right now." Silver said. "God I hope I didn't just wake you up..."

"No, no you're fine. I just got home, the gym closed early tonight." Effie replied.

"G-get here as fast as you can." Silver shuddered as he pulled aside the curtain to the living room window. He couldn't see much beyond what the street lamps outside the apartment illuminated. He could see that there was nobody on the street, this made the escape easier.

"I'll be there in 10 minutes, tops." Effie said in an attempt to reassure him.

"T-thank you, bye." Silver muttered, hanging up.

He made his way into the bedroom Elise was currently occupying, flicking the lights on. He was in denial that he had to share it with her, for the most part because Elise didn't spend much time in the room. She only stayed in there to sleep on the bunk bed inhabiting the room at night (Of course, she called dibs on the top bunk.) or to change clothes. As far as Silver gave much thought, the room was pretty much his. He pounded on the side of Elise's bunk to wake her up, to which he got a teddy bear to the face.

"Go away, I'm sleeping!" Elise whined.

"T-this is serious, we need to get out of the apartment! We're n-not safe!" Silver stuttered at his younger sister. "I c-called Effie to pick us up, we're going to Father's office."

"Awww man, is this 'cause Fuchsia was being gross?" Elise inquired, peeking her head over the railing. "Why'd she have to be gross?!"

"S-sorta. Lots of bad stuff happened, w-we have to get out of here." He explained. Elise wrinkled her nose, squirmed backwards onto the ladder, and made her way to the floor.

"I'll get dressed..." She pouted, gesturing for Silver to turn around. "Wait, was someone we know killed again?"

Silver felt a knot in his stomach at the question. Elise was only 13 and a half, but she had already knew the horrible roundabout of living in a gang. He let out a harsh groan, lamenting to himself how hard it was to talk to someone when he couldn't see their face. "Y-yeah, someone got killed. We didn't know her, but…"

Before he could end his sentence, he heard a knock at the door. Silver cautiously tip-toed to the front door, taking a knife from the kitchen. He pulled the curtain next to the front door open just enough to see who was at the door, but that they couldn't see him. He breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that it was Effie.

"Elise?! A-are you ready to go?!" Silver shouted in the direction of the bedroom. He heard his sister let out a loud groan, stomping out of the room.

"Why do people gotta die at the worst time?! I was almost asleep!" Elise grumbled as Silver unlocked the front door to let Effie in.

Silver locked the front door once again, scurrying to close all the curtains he could find. He made a strained sound as he tried to figure out an easy way to get out of the apartment undetected.

"The f-fire escape will do." He said, rushing to unlock the window. He squirmed onto the metal walkway, Effie and Elise following close behind.

"Isn't it illegal to use the fire escape when its not an emergency?" Effie asked. "...And why do you have a kitchen knife?"

"One, we're in no p-place to think about fire escape laws, we're already in a gang. That alone breaks way more laws than f-fire safety. Two, w-we don't keep a gun in the house because Camilla keeps it in her purse. S-she took her purse because she didn't expect this kind of s-shit to happen!" Silver explained, his voice rushed and shaky.

The three finally reached Effie's car, out of breath.

"So where are we going?" Effie asked as Silver crammed Elise in the back end of the car.

"Father's office. I was on the phone with Xander earlier...h-he said we should go there." Silver panted, buckling himself into the seat next to Elise.

"Ugh...I think we might have to take an indirect route. It's almost 2 AM, so besides whatever happened, bars are closing. Drunk pedestrians are always the worst." Effie groaned as she hopped in the driver's seat and slammed the car door. "I think it would be best if you guys weren't sitting upright like that, you could get shot. Maybe you could lie down?"

Elise pouted, unbuckling herself and crawling into the footwell. Silver let out a heavy sigh, following suit. (He was grateful that he and Elise were small enough to fit in the cramped space together. And that Effie didn't have one of those cars that had separated footwells, too.)

It took a little getting used to, the feeling of driving while lying down. Silver looked up, watching the upside-down neon signs of the city pass by. He couldn't read all the signs they passed, but he didn't mind. The colors were enough to take the tiniest bit of edge off of his bubbling anxiety. Elise was doing a good job at staying quiet. But she had decided "footwell car ride to avoid getting shot" meant "cuddle with big bro time". Silver tolerated it, but it wasn't as pleasant as it used to be. He wondered when his little sister had gotten so damn...large. She was almost as tall as he was at this point.

" _It seems like yesterday she was in first grade."_ He thought. _"She's going to go through that early teen 'I'm technically an adult' phase soon, oh god..."_

Everything was changing so fast…including the view outside the car windows. The hypnotizing neon signs swapped with the dark, wet brickwork and metal-grated windows. Silver assumed it to be an alleyway. The car went over three potholes in rapid succession, confirming this thought. Only alleyways were that badly paved. They finally reached the end of the alley, going into a side street. The signs in this part of town were dimmer, even burned out in certain spots. The dimmer signs went on for what felt like hours. Silver had almost fallen asleep when they changed again. Now skyscrapers with windows like mirrors illuminated thie path. They were getting close to the office by now. Within a few minutes they were in a parking garage. Silver could hear Effie roll down the window to take a ticket from the machine, and then the mechanical guard arm winching up. Elise shifted, peeking up to see the tiniest bit of their location.

"Are we there yet?" She whined, flopping back down to rest her head on Silver's chest.

"Yep, we're here." Effie said. "I was thinking once this all blows over we could go to Subway. All that driving made me hungry."

"Can we?! For real?!" Elise asked, perking up.

"Yep. We can even get cookies." Effie said.

"Implying Elise won't fall asleep in the waiting room..." Silver groaned, fishing his knife out from under the car seat he jammed it under to not get cut by accident. Effie fiddled around in the glove compartment to find her wallet while Silver and Elise got out of the car. She joined them soon after, locating a door into the building.

The three made their way into a side entrance to the building. They went up at least five flights of stairs before reaching an elevator. The contrast from the industrial stairwell to the pristine, bleached white of the office building was jarring.

It took far too long for the elevator to reach them, and almost longer to get to the top floor where Garon's office resided. Elise groaned when the elevator stopped just short of their stop to let someone else on. Of course the person who entered the elevator just had to be Iago. All three of them cringed at the prospect of sharing an elevator with Garon's right hand man. At least they knew that meant Garon was in the office in the first place.

"I'm guessing Mr. Windmire sent for you?" Iago sneered, glancing at the group.

"No, f-father wasn't the one who sent for us, i-it w-was Xander." Silver stuttered, his knees shaking. Iago had unnerved him since he was little. Something about his piercing, vampiric eyes sparked fear in the deepest parts of Silver's being.

"He's always been quick to collect his siblings at the slightest discrepancy like it's the end of the world..." Iago replied.

"C-can you b-blame him for h-having concern?" Silver yelped, ushering Elise behind him in an attempt to shield her.

"I didn't ask for your opinion." Iago said, side-eyeing Silver with disapproval. "I was stating fact, you annoying little fa-"

"Hey, our floor!" Effie interrupted. She grabed Silver and Elise by the collars and dragged them out of the elevator, shoving Iago aside in the process. Silver tried to squirm free from her vice grip with little success. She finally released them once she was sure Iago wasn't tailing them.

"W-what was that for?! I-I was handling it fine!" Silver stuttered, straightening his jacket collar.

"You looked anxious." Effie stated. "Plus, I knew the next four letters that were going to come out of his mouth weren't going to be pretty."

"H-he's an older member of the gang, he has different ideals. A-and I'm a-always anxious, Effie." Silver replied.

"I know you're always anxious. It just looked worse than normal." Effie said. "Maybe if you did more cardio it would help."

It wasn't until Silver turned around that he realized Effie had dragged them to the waiting room. And that he was in front of the rest of his siblings, as well as their bodyguards. Camilla had her head in her hands, sobbing. Selena was attempting to comfort the purple-haired woman with little success. Beruka was discussing with Silk where Fuchsia was last seen. Leo was examining the contents of his notepad, shaking his head. Peri was cleaning with her gun whilst humming a cheerful tune. Lazlow had somehow managed to contort himself into a position that allowed him to sleep on a tiny waiting room chair. Odin was practicing what Silver could only infer as being reenacting a scene from _Jojo's Bizarre Adventure_. Zero was leaning against a wall, looking like a teen delinquent trapped in the body of a buff, white haired 20-something. Xander was having a heated conversation with someone on his cell phone.

Silver gulped, giving a shaky wave to the group. Odin stopped posing and turned to look at Silver, a huge grin spreading across his face.

" **BEHOLD, SILVER OF THE COLD FIELD AND YOUNG ELISE HAVE ARRIVED!** " Odin boomed. (It was a well-established fact that the hammy blond had no "inside voice".)

"This better be over soon, Effie's taking me and Silver to Subway when dad says we can go." Elise said, thumping down in the chair next to Lazlow.

"Oh thank god, I thought the call might have cut out and you didn't hear me tell you to come to the office." Xander said, hanging up.

"I-It's fine. Our entrance w-wouldn't have been so awkward if Iago hadn't shown up..." Silver groaned, pushing his curly black hair out of his eyes. "A-also, Odin, I told you not to call me that."

" **I SHALL CREATE A NEW TITLE FOR YOU! AN EVEN BETTER ONE!** " Odin shouted. Zero slapped his hand over the younger man's mouth in an attempt to shush him.

The buzzer next to Garon's office door sounded, Xander let out a sigh of relief and mouthed "finally" to himself before answering. 30 seconds passed. Intercom static, Garon's muffled voice, and Xander making various non-committal noises. Then the door at last swung open. Peri elbowed Lazlow in the ribs to wake him up as the group began shuffling through the door in a clumsy, disordered fashion. Silver, Elise, and Effie crammed into the middle of the shuffle between Beruka and Zero.

"You look nice tonight, like the fifth and forgotten Arctic Monkey." Elise said to Zero, smiling.

"...That's a bizarre compliment." Zero replied, his eye narrowing. "If it even is one."

"Elise, no." Silver whispered, ushering his sister into the room, not making eye contact with Zero.

The room crammed full within a few second. Garon did have a large office, but twelve people was over the max occupancy. Silver hid in the corner next to the chair Camilla ended up in, wiping her running mascara away. Garon made a slow and steady gaze over the group, taking inventory of everyone in the room whilst remaining completely silent.

"How many of you know about the situation at hand? Not just about Fuchsia, but the whole situation." Garon asked, his voice near-emotionless.

One by one, various members of the room raised their hands. Xander. Leo. Silver. Zero. Odin. Peri. Lazlow. Beruka. Silk.

"...So that means three of you don't know." Garon grumbled.

"I know someone died! Was it Fuchsia?" Elise chimed in.

"No, it wasn't her." Garon replied. "The victim in question was Mikoto. She was the leader of Hoshido for thirteen years. She died at 6 PM after a shooting at a convenience store. There were no deaths besides her, but there were three others injured."

"We're not 100 percent sure who did it, bu-" Xander said before Garon cut him off.

"You can talk when I've finished explaining the events of earlier today. As I was saying, I currently suspect it was a third party, the store she died in was neutral territory. If it was a Nohrian, I would know, and they would have been...dealt with by now." Garon growled, shooting Xander a disapproving glare. "And the situation has been exacerbated by Fuchsia's rebellious tendencies. Azura spotted her near Jinya at 10:35 PM. As you all know, Jinya is a neighborhood controlled by Hoshido."

Camilla let out a strangled cry, shaking in her seat. She was in distress at the thought of one of her two beloved little sisters being with a rival gang.

"Fuchsia was with two young men. Azura, with Silk's help, was able to photograph and identify them." Garon said, sliding a file with two fresh-printed photographs in it across the desk. "Their names are Hinata and Takumi. Takumi is Mikoto's second eldest son, and Hinata is from what we have gathered, his bodyguard. The fact that she is with one of the leader's children is quite problematic."

Various members of the group leaned in to look at the photos. They were with a cell phone, but later enlarged. The first of the pair depicted a somewhat disgruntled young man in a blue t-shirt with light greyish-brown hair. It was in a messy, somewhat spiky ponytail that gave him the appearance of an angry pineapple. The second depicted a cheerful young man in a tank top, a little older than the other. He had reddish-brown hair pulled into a bun in the back of his head, and several clean-cut scars on his face and muscular arms.

"So who's who?" Selena inquired, squinting at the file.

"The one that looks like a grumpy porcupine is Takumi, and the one that looks like Zero's good twin is Hinata." Silk explained. Zero sneered at her for the comment about Hinata being his "good twin".

"You should be well informed about the situation now." Garon said. "...But I find it odd that Silver knew already, yet he didn't explain it to Effie and Elise."

Silver stiffened up at Garon's statement, quickly looking up with a look akin to a deer in headlights.

"I-I was scared! I w-wasn't a hundred percent s-sure what h-happened because t-the phone kept breaking up w-when I called Xander!" Silver squeaked, knees shaking.

"You should have told Effie everything you knew, or Xander should have called Effie instead of you." Garon growled, giving a soul-piercing glare to Silver.

"I told him to call Xander, dad. I had no idea about the murder. I had gone out to look for Fuchsia after she stormed out in a...a...storm of teenage angst!" Camilla interjected, standing up to break her father's line of sight.

"I was at work until 8, so I couldn't have known." She added.

"Well if that's the case, I assume I can shift the blame from him." Garon sighed, closing the file containing the photos. "Cell reception in this part of the city is notoriously spotty. I can believe that of his story."

The tension in the room was almost thick enough to cut with a knife. Elise had zoned out about the time Garon showed the photographs of Takumi and Hinata, deciding to play a game on her phone instead. Silver rubbed his temples, wishing he had brought his meds. Being called to Garon's office was always a stressful ordeal, this time more so than usual.

...And then his phone rang.

Silver let out a loud shriek, everyone in the room turning to look at him.

"Why the hell would anyone be calling you at 2 AM?" Leo questioned, his voice tinged with alarm. Silver fumbled to find his phone, eventually fishing it from his right pocket. He felt his stomach churn when he saw the caller ID.

 _Fuchsia._

"I-it's F-Fuchsia..." He informed the group.

"Put her on speaker phone." Silk said, her voice gentle and concerned.

Silver tapped the speaker icon on the touch screen as well as his shaking hands could. There was a sound of static mixed with the distant sound of late-night traffic for almost a minute before he could hear a voice on the other end. Everyone else in the room was dead silent, expressions ranging from fear, to anger, to sheer confusion. Silver finally was able to choke out a single word.

"H-Hello?"

"Sup, fuckboy. Just calling to tell you I'm not being help captive or gangraped. Or whatever the hell you're getting your panties in a twist about." Fuchsia said, her voice clear as a bell. She was in a park of some kind from the clues given by ambient sound.

"Why the fuck would he think you were being raped?" A voice sounded from the other end, it sounded like a boy around Silver's age, maybe younger.

"Because he's an anxious little bitch is why." Fuchsia snorted.

"Takumi, Fuchsia, stop. He's your _brother._ " Another voice said. This one was of a woman, a little older than Camilla.

"Ugh, anyways...come to Plains Cemetery. Bring Silk." Fuchsia groaned. "We need to talk. Don't bring anyone else. **I mean it.** "

Fuchsia hung up, leaving everyone in the room was at a loss for words.

"We can't respect her request of going to the graveyard alone, it's not safe..." Silk sighed, putting her head in her hands.

"No shit, Sherlock." Selena said, just as snark-fueled as usual.

"Cemeteries are usually a place gangs go to negotiate. It's considered disrespectful to fight there, it's quite literally holy ground." Leo inferred, vigorously writing on his notepad. "...And because Hoshido has kept in touch with a lot of the Japanese beliefs the founders had, they're even less likely to fight there."

"Plains isn't the graveyard used for negotiations. It's in a Hoshidan neighborhood." Beruka said. "The normal graveyard is Canyon Sanctuaries."

"Maybe we can go as backup and hide until Silk and Silver need us?" Lazlow said, still rubbing his side from where Peri elbowed him.

"...Or we could just go and shoot 'em all up!" Peri chirped, waving her (hopefully not loaded) gun in the air.

"That would be a risk to Fuchsia's safety." Xander said, looking at the ombre-haired haired bodyguard with disappointment. "I think Lazlow has the right idea."

"I concur." Garon said.

"So...are we done yet?" Elise asked.

"Yes. You all should go immediately, but be cautious." Garon replied. "This has a high likelihood of being a trap, but we have no choice."

"If we're able to bring Fuchsia home, it's a risk I'm willing to take." Camilla asserted, wiping the last of her ruined makeup off with a tissue.

Garon's office emptied just as quickly as it had filled.


	3. The Graveyard

Silver let out a shaky breath as he faced the entry to the cemetery. He knew he wasn't alone, he had backup waiting in the shadows if anyone tried to hurt him or Silk. Silk put a hand on his back to show her support, but he couldn't help but feel something terrible was about to happen.

The pair walked along the main path, searching for Fuchsia and whoever she was with. Graveyards were always eerie at night. Silk swore she saw people off the path, just out of earshot. Nobody responded when she shouted into the night. They finally saw Fuchsia in the distance, standing over a grave that had fresh flowers on it. She was with four other people, including Takumi.

"Fuchsia, oh my god!" Silk choked out, running to hug her sister.

"Well, looks like you actually followed the damn instructions." Fuchsia said, pushing a lock of her light brown hair out of her face. "I...no, we. We need to show you something."

Silk let go of Fuchsia, looking down at the grave in front of her. Silver caught up, out of breath. He looked up at one of the others Fuchsia was with. He assumed she was the woman who had chided Fuchsia and Takumi on the phone. She was only the tiniest bit taller than him, with hair that looked like Silk's, but a little darker. She took a sharp inhale, holding a shaky hand out to him.

"N-no, I'm fine. I d-don't need help." Silver said to her, panting.

"...Is it you? All three of you?" The woman asked.

"Can you be less...cryptic? Maybe tell me your name, too?" Silver asked, leaning over to rest his hands on his knees.

"Her name is Hinoka. She's your sister." Fuchsia said.

"Sister? What's gotten into you?" Silk asked, making a quick glance over of the group.

"Turns out the kid at school who said I'm adopted was right!" Fuchsia laughed, her voice tinged with bitterness. "...Except 'adopted' is too kind a word. The technical term is 'kidnapped'."

Silk and Silver gave Fuchsia a look as if she had gone insane. Kidnapped? Why would she think she was a kidnapping victim?

"...You two were too. All three of you are our siblings." Hinoka explained, putting a cautious hand on Silver's shoulder.

"After I had my meltdown and ran off, I got lost and ended up in a Hoshido controlled neighborhood. Someone asked me who I was. I said 'I'm Fuchsia' and they looked like I had just told them the location of Jimmy Hoffa's body." Fuchsia said, nonchalant. "They turned me over to these guys here, and they told me I've been living a lie."

Silk's stance was...oddly stiff. She opened her mouth just to close it again at least five times. It was obvious that she knew something she wasn't admitting.

"Did any of you know? Did you know about our father?" The tallest of the group, a dark brown-haired man said. "Did the Nohrians that kidnapped you say you were their siblings?"

"I...this...this has to be a joke!" Silver yelped, taking a step back. "I look nothing like you guys! I-I could believe that Fuchsia...o-or Silk were your siblings...but..."

"You and Silk are step-siblings." The man replied. "Your mother, Mikoto, married our father. She never disclosed who your biological father was. Fuchsia was born into the family."

"I...mom...my mom died giving birth to Elise. I have a twin sister! T-this can't be real." Silver squeaked.

"Turns out, you don't! She wasn't your twin, just a girl that looked way too much like you! Plus, being dead, Nat-" Fuchsia snorted, pacing around Silver before he cut her off.

" **DON'T SAY HER NAME LIKE THAT**!" Silver sobbed, crumpling in on himself with fear. "THIS IS A R-REALLY B-BAD PRANK!"

Hinoka grabbed Fuchsia by the arm, pulling her away. Silk kept looking away, refusing to look anyone in the eye. The youngest of the Hoshidans, a girl not much older than Elise, approached Silver. She knelt down to look him in the eyes, sympathetic.

"It's okay if you don't believe us. I-I have anxiety too, I know what it's like. You just met us for the first time in 13 years." She whispered. "It's okay if you don't want to come with us, the last time we were all together, you were five. Few people remember that much before they turn seven or eight..."

"Sakura, no, don't enable him." Hinoka groaned, maintaining her grip on Fuchsia's arm. "He's abused, he has Stockholm Syndrome."

Sakura narrowed her eyes, shaking her head at Hinoka. Fuchsia rolled her eyes and mouthed "fucking hell".

"Do they not treat you well?" Sakura asked Silver, still keeping her voice quiet.

"N-no, not...not every one of them." Silver replied. "C-Camilla is nice. S-so is Elise. A-and Xander."

Sakura nodded, listening to him. She stood up and walked back to Hinoka, mouthing "he's scared".

"Hey, do you want me to introduce you? I-it might be better if you know our names." She said, looking back and forth. Silver nodded in confirmation. "I-I'm Sakura, your little sister. The girl next to me is Hinoka, she's your big sister, she's about the same age as Silk. The grumpy pineapple here i-is Takumi. He's not nice right now, but I promise o-once you get to know him, he's sweet! A-and last, we have Ryouma, he's the one with the spiky hair. He wears a lot of red, people say he looks kinda like a lobster. So...yeah, that's everyone."

Silver let out a halfhearted chuckle at the comparison of Ryouma to a lobster. The graveyard was dark, but he could see the resemblance. Sakura gasped as if she had forgotten something, or rather someone. She stepped aside, allowing Silver to read the gravestone they surrounded.

 _Sumeragi Suzanoh_

 _Father, Friend, and Leader._

 _Born on December 23rd, 1966_

 _Died on August 15th, 2003_

"...This is dad." Sakura said with reverence in her voice. "Whoever kidnapped you, Silk, and Fuchsia killed him."

Silver tried to choke out a response, but the most he got out was a sound akin to a dying bird. What if they were right? What if he, Silk, and Fuchsia had, as Ryouma was implying, all been living a lie? But if it was true, why take a child, let alone three of them?

"Why...why would someone...why do that?" Silver whispered, staring at the headstone with a glazed-over look.

"He was the leader of Hoshido is why. You've grown up in this city, you know what gang warfare is like. There is no reason, just hatred." Ryouma replied.

"Hey, let me talk for a second!" Takumi snapped, glaring at the group.

"Go ahead." Ryouma groaned, pinching his brow.

"Don't you think it's pretty weird that the same day our mother dies, the siblings we had assumed dead show up like fucking magic?!" Takumi growled.

"Hey, me and Anxiety McGee have alibis for the murder!" Fuchsia scoffed.

"I'm not talking about you being the problems, I'm talking about you being bait." Takumi replied. "If some Nohrian scumbag just walks up to us and we all get the same treatment dad did, I'll have the decency to not say 'I told you so' in the afterlife."

"Takumi, I know you're dealing with grief in your own way. Just shut up and listen to me." Hinoka said, trying to calm her younger brother. "If we manage to get them all to come with us, we can prove that they're our siblings. If we get a DNA test done, we can know for sure that they're the siblings we lost and not someone pretending to be them."

"The longer we stay here, the easier we could get ambushed!" Takumi hissed, looking around the graveyard with paranoia.

"I...ugh, fine. We can go." Hinoka groaned, slapping her free hand to her pale face. "Ryouma, go get the car."

Ryouma nodded, heading towards the graveyard's parking lot. Hinoka released the vice grip she had on Fuchsia's arm, to which Fuchsia sighed with relief. Silk continued to look away, though it was unclear if this was due to shame or something else. Silver tried to take a deep breath, but had little success. Hinoka gestured for them to follow her upon seeing Ryouma pull up to the fence nearest to them. Fuchsia followed her with an eager demeanor. Silver trailed behind them. He sped up after he realized Takumi was acting as if they shared a personal space bubble. Just as Hinoka and Silk were about to enter the car was the awkward silence broken.

"SIIIIILLLLLLVERRRR! SIIIIILKKKK! SUBWAY CLOSES AT 5:00, AND IT'S 3:46! TELL FUCHSIA TO GET HER GROSS BUTT IN THE CAR BEFORE SUBWAY CLOSES!" A familiar, childish voice screeched from behind them. Everyone turned to the direction the voice was coming from. Elise was strolling across the graveyard with a panicked Leo trying to grab her to pull her away.

"Are you insane?! Do you want them to kill us?!" Leo whispered, barely keeping up with her.

"NO! I JUST WANNA GET SUBWAY BEFORE IT CLOSES!" Elise yelled, shoving Leo over.

"GET IN THE CAR!" Hinoka shouted, shoving Silk in headfirst, Fuchsia following close behind.

Silver froze in place, looking between Elise and Hinoka. Hinoka grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, beginning to drag him in the direction of the car as well. He broke free of her grip and ran towards Elise.

"He~ey! Where's Fuchsia?! We need her before we can go to Subway!" Elise chirped, skipping towards Silver.

"E-Elise, why did you come here?! Y-you're supposed to hide!" Silver yelped.

"SILVER, GET IN THE CAR!" Hinoka yelled, ushering Takumi in next to Fuchsia. "THE GIRL IS A TRAP!"

"I'M NOT A TRAP!" Elise shouted back at Hinoka. "JUST GIVE FUCHSIA BACK AND STOP BEING GROSS!"

Silver tried to shove his younger brother and sister back in the direction from which they came. Elise resisted, pushing back on him. Before the situation could progress any further, Leo tackled both of them to the ground. Silver groaned, looking around aimlessly before realizing the meaning for Leo's sudden action. When he did see, he was sick to his stomach.

Hinoka had pulled a gun from the car, and was aiming for Elise's head.

"Please, just come with us. I'm begging you." She whispered, her hands shaking. "I don't want to kill a child."

A gunshot rang through the graveyard, but it wasn't from Hinoka. Everyone turned to look in the direction from which it came. Hinoka ran and climbed into the passenger seat nest to Ryouma in fear for her own life. Camilla was in the distance, running towards them. She waved the pistol she had fished from her purse, shouting in Hinoka's direction. Leo used the cover of confusion and chaos to grab Elise by the shoulders and drag her as far away as he could. Silver's ears were ringing as he tried to make sense of the situation. Shouts came from both sides of the confrontation.

" _GET IN THE CAR, FUCKBOY!"_

" _JUST LEAVE ALREADY!"_

" _GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THEM!"_

" _CAMILLA, CALM DOWN!"_

" _WE CAN'T LEAVE HIM!"_

" _LET GO OF ME, LEO!"_

" _JUST START THE CAR!"_

" _STOP KICKING, DAMN IT!"_

Two more gunshots sounded, a car door slammed, an engine turned over. Silver slowly got up, looking towards both sides of the situation. He could see Hinoka and Ryouma shouting at each other. Sakura cowered as Takumi tried to shield her. Fuchsia banged on the window, yelling at him. Camilla waved her gun, shouting innumerable threats. Leo tried to restrain a kicking and screaming Elise. Xander had followed Camilla, trying to bring her back to her senses.

Silver realized that in this moment, he had to choose who he would leave the graveyard with.

"I need to go home" He thought, looking between the two groups.

Where was home, though? Were the people he had grown up with liars? Was it true that he didn't belong? Were the "siblings" he had met that night lying as well? Would they even want him back, knowing he was a dysfunctional mess?

Silver turned away from half of the equation. He ran towards what he felt to be his true family whilst sobbing. He could only imagine what the possible "home" he had abandoned thought of him now. Surely they must hate him now. As the car drove away, Silver knew he had just made the most important decision of his life. He knew that the tensions between Hoshido and Nohr were just going to get much, much worse from his betrayal.

"My home is here." He said, facing Xander. "With Nohr."


	4. Family Portrait

Fuchsia yelped as she felt the car violently turn away from the sidewalk. She tried to take inventory of what was going on around her to make sense of what had transpired.

Ryouma had a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel, with an obsessive focus on the road in front of him. Hinoka had curled in on herself, sobbing . (Fuchsia wasn't sure if Hinoka had even been able to buckle her seatbelt.) Sakura was stiff from head to toe. Her only movements were the quivering of her lips as she tried to keep herself from hyperventilating. Takumi was trying to comfort Sakura, whispering to her that they were safe; that no one had been shot. Silk curled up in the footwell of Sakura's seat, her back pressed against the door as she clutched her knees.

"Is everyone okay?" Fuchsia asked. "Well, Hinoka isn't. That's pretty obvious."

"I hit my head on the roof of the car when Ryouma drove over a curb, but that's about it." Takumi replied.

"I...I..." Sakura croaked, tears welling in her eyes. "G-gunshots..."

"Shhh, you don't have to talk. Focus on my voice, okay? We'll be home soon, and we can get you your meds." Takumi muttered, rubbing Sakura's arm. "We're all okay, nobody got hurt."

Fuchsia kept quiet for most of the drive out of respect for her family. She thought back over the years, how everything fell into place if she thought of herself as "kidnapped". Why she was rarely allowed to see a real doctor. Why she was only ever allowed to go to small schools in Nohr-controlled neighborhoods. Why she wasn't allowed to have friends, and why she was restricted to the apartment on most days. She thought it had been a byproduct of being a gang leader's daughter. As she got older she noticed that those rules didn't apply to anyone but herself, Silver, and Silk.

The lights of the city passed in an almost nauseating blur, Fuchsia couldn't focus on anything that passed if she tried. Businesses. Hole-in-the-wall liquor shops. Dive bars. Corner stores. Gas stations. Restaurants, and alleys all passed at least 20 times within the first 10 minutes alone. Fuchsia wondered how big the city even was in the first place, let alone how much of it she was going to see that night. She reflected upon how much had happened that night in such a short amount of time.

At 12:29 she got into a fistfight.

At 1:00 she was in the principal's office, learning of the fact that apparently five fistfights in a week meant suspension.

At 8:15 she got into a heated argument with Camilla, entirely provoked by Silver the Rules Lawyer. Fuchsia was glad that he hadn't come with her and Silk.

At 8:30 she took a sharp turn down an alley to shake Camilla off of her trail.

At 8:50 she realized she had gotten lost.

At 8:53 she realized she had gotten lost in Hoshido territory.

At 9:05 she wandered into a corner store to get a replacement soda for the one she had taken from the apartment, and ran into Rinkah.

At 9:20 she met her siblings. Her _ **real**_ siblings.

At 9:45 she learned that her mother died earlier that day. She hated that she would never be able to meet her real mother.

At 11:40 she made a plan to meet Silver and Silk in the graveyard.

At 1:58 she went to a grocery store with Hinata and Takumi to buy flowers for Sumeragi's grave.

At 2:50 she and her siblings made it to the graveyard.

At 3:30 Silver and Silk finally showed up.

At 3:46 Elise ruined everything. Silver, being a spineless doormat, stayed with Nohr.

What time was it now? Oh, right, 4:03. Ryouma wasn't driving as if he were in a Fast and Furious movie now, so that must be a good sign. Fuchsia watched the city outside her window. This was definitely a neighborhood she had never been to before. The colors of the buildings and signs seared her eyes with how bright and saturated they were. Fuchsia was used to gloomy grayscale and colors akin to those used by Dali or Rothko.

"I see you don't remember this part of the city." Ryouma said, noticing Fuchsia's awe. "The neighborhoods controlled by Hoshido seem to attract bright colors, it's odd."

"Yeah, Nohr-controlled sections are so dark just looking at them could give you depression." Takumi snorted, rolling his eyes.

Fuchsia pressed her face against the car window, feeling a sense of completion and belonging she hadn't before. Was it that she had remembered the truth, no matter how subconscious it had been? Did she just luck out by being the rebellious little shit of the family?

" _Maybe I won't have to live in anyone's shadow anymore."_ She thought.

She was guilty that she was acting like a giddy 5-year-old when the air in the car was anything but happy. Sakura was still trying to drag herself out of a panic attack. Silk had a look in her eyes as if she had just seen hell. Takumi was trying to help everyone pull themselves back together with little success. Hinoka had curled in on herself in the passenger seat, rocking back and forth with the same white-knuckle grip on her gun that she had in the graveyard. Ryouma...Ryouma's mind was a puzzle too many for Fuchsia in that moment. All that she could infer was that he must have mastered his poker face at an early age.

The lights began to fade into the distance as they turned into a residential neighborhood. It was completely silent, save for the occasional dog barking. or nighttime lawn sprinkler. Fuchsia had nearly fallen asleep when Ryouma made a sharp turn into the driveway of what she assumed to be their house. A garage door opener whirred to life, opening to reveal a garage of gray concrete and brown paneling. After they had pulled in and closed the garage door once again, Ryouma let out a shaky groan.

"Is anyone injured?" He asked, his voice raspy.

"Not me, not Fuchsia. I don't know about Silk, Sakura was having a panic attack but I think she fell asleep. You seem to be fine, but Hinoka..." Takumi said, counting the heads in the car.

"...Oh, and Silver decided to _abandon_ us, so he's not here." He added, bitterness clinging to his words.

Hinoka started sobbing at Takumi's statement about Silver, curling in even more on herself. Ryouma slowly held out his hand to comfort her, but she swatted it away. She kept whispering, chiding herself for not pulling the trigger on Elise and Leo. Fuchsia put a cautious hand on the handle to her door, trying to avoid disturbing Hinoka.

"The garage and house are connected, go through the door by the tool rack." Ryouma said, turning to face Fuchsia and Silk.

Fuchsia opened the door, exit the car, and moved towards the tool rack. Silk dragged her heels when following Fuchsia, and Takumi did his best to silently exit the car, then turn back to unbuckle and pick up a sleeping Sakura. When Ryouma finally caught up with them, he halted before unlocking the door.

"Shoes come off in the house." He said, pointing to Silk and Fuchsia's feet.

"I'm used to taking shoes off in the house. Camilla used to make me do that, it was a carpeting thing." Fuchsia replied, shrugging. Silk nodded, still bug-eyed and in shock.

The immaculate state of the house made it pretty obvious to Fuchsia why shoes came off before you went in. The walls were a pure matte white, and the hardwood flooring was a hi-gloss cherry red. Silk navigated it well, but Fuchsia could barely walk a few steps without sliding and stumbling like a newborn giraffe. Takumi snorted at the sight of the brunette struggling to cling to a wall as he carried Sakura to her room.

Ryouma and Hinoka were the last to enter. Hinoka crept towards to kitchen, her eyes puffy and bloodshot. Ryouma gestured for Silk and Fuchsia to follow him into the living room, to which they obliged.

"Hinoka's going to get something to eat. She thinks it might be able to help calm her down." He explained, kneeling in front of a table in the center of the room.

Fuchsia's eyes darted to the wall farthest from her, noting that it was covered in various family photographs. She approached it, trying to identify the people in them. One featured a young man in a graduation gown, she assumed from the spiky dark brown hair that it was Ryouma. Another featured a two-year old she assumed to be Takumi holding a newborn she assumed to be Sakura.

"Who's in the photo here?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at her brother.

"Oh, that's Takumi." Ryouma replied.

"...And the baby?" Fuchsia added.

Ryouma sighed, getting up to assess the photo better than he could at the table. When he got a good look at it, he took a sharp inhale.

" _The baby is you, Fuchsia."_

Fuchsia was taken aback by this. She had never seen any photos of herself before the age of four, she had assumed that it was a side effect of Garon's dislike of technology. In reality it was just another warning sign that she hadn't been with her real family this whole time. She spent almost five minutes staring at the rosy-cheeked infant in the photo. That was her. A smaller, less intelligent version of herself that was incapable of cognizant speech and didn't know the existence of the word "fuck" yet.

"Goddamn, I was ugly." Fuchsia snorted.

Ryouma chuckled, putting a hand on her shoulder. He clarified most of the photos on the wall to her, telling her their backstories. It was odd to Fuchsia how close-knit her real family was. Hell, they lived together instead of being split up throughout the city like the Garon's kids were.

"What if I wasn't taken?" Fuchsia thought. "If they only took Silver and Silk...maybe I wouldn't have lived in their shadows."

Fuchsia could feel butterflies in her stomach at that thought.

"Hell, I wouldn't have looked out of place with them, my hair color is pretty much the same as Mr. Pineapple." Her mind continued. "Maybe I would have..."

Before she could finish the thought, she heard Hinoka return from the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Hinoka asked.

"Fuchsia asked about the photos, I was explaining some of them." Ryouma replied. Hinoka nodded in response, taking a bite out of one of the hot pockets on the plate she carried in.

Ryouma side-eyed Silk, who had fallen asleep on the couch while he wasn't looking. He groaned and pinched his brow, muttering something about beds under his breath. Fuchsia looked between Hinoka and him, confused.

"Oh! Right, Silk and I need somewhere to sleep." Fuchsia said, picking up on her older brother's thoughts.

"Exactly. We do have some sleeping bags, but we don't have any spare bedrooms." Ryouma said, nodding.

"I'm fine with sharing a room." Fuchsia replied. "We can leave Silk on the couch until morning, she's a heavy sleeper."

"I'd offer my room, but it's full of exercise equipment." Hinoka said. "...And I know Sakura doesn't like having people in her room."

"I can't think of a place where she would fit in my room, I'd have to move furniture." He grumbled. "That leaves us with no choice but Takumi..."

"That sounds great!" Fuchsia chirped. "I mean, he might kick me out, but I can sleep on the couch if that happens."

Ryouma and Hinoka glanced at each other in apprehension, but still allowed Fuchsia to go ahead with her plan.

"Takumi's room is at the end of the hall on the second floor." Ryouma sighed.

"Psst, taco meat, you in here?" Fuchsia whispered, knocking on Takumi's door. "I have to stay with you for the night."

"It's pronounced _'Ta-coo-mii'_ , not _'taco meat'_." Takumi groaned from the other side of the door. "...There's seriously no other place for you to sleep?"

Fuchsia crept in, unrolling the sleeping bag and tossing her hoodie on the ground. "Yep. Only you. Sorry bub."

Takumi propped himself up, scowling at her. "Couldn't they have thrown you in the doll room? That _ **is**_ a tradition for us."

"Uhhh...'doll room'? What doll room?" Fuchsia asked, sliding into the sleeping bag.

"Our grandmother used to collect those creepy traditional Japanese dolls. Sakura's started doing the same thing. We have a room for them. That's what I mean by 'doll room'." Takumi replied.

"...Annnnd why would you want me to get stuck in there?" Fuchsia asked.

"Sometimes people sleep in the doll room as an initiation thing. It started as a joke with some of Hinoka's friends, and then people started taking it seriously." Takumi answered. "Please stop asking questions, it's annoying."

"Hey, I'm your little sister! Little sisters should be annoying!" Fuchsia giggled.

The room became even more silent then it had been before. Takumi laid back down and rolled over before he said anything again.

" _ **You're not my sister. Now shut up and go to sleep."**_


End file.
